AvBaeyer
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NileRed in the NY Times
There was a very long article about NileRed in the NY Times this past Sunday (August 18, 2024). I thought it would be nice to bring this to everyone's
attention. What an operation he has!
AvB
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j_sum1
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Here is the link.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/17/world/canada/nilered-yout...
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paulll
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As much as I have a ton of respect for NileRed, seeing Nigel repeatedly referred to as, "Mr. Braun," is amusingly dissonant.
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Tdep
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Here’s a non-paywall version you can read for free if you can’t get in to the above version: https://archive.md/6PTyM
Very cool article!
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Sir_Gawain
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That’s awesome, but for most of us, ending up in the news is our biggest fear 
“Alchemy is trying to turn things yellow; chemistry is trying to avoid things turning yellow.” -Tom deP.
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j_sum1
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I admit to enjoying early Nilered a lot more than recent Nilered.
Those days when he tinkered in his garage and did not show his face were good science.
The ultra-equipped lab with the drawer of specialist hammers and the spectroscope that has been used twice and the reaction shots of burning diamonds
or eating capsasin hold less appeal.
I think he has been extremely clever to read the market and carve a space where he makes money dojng stuff he loves. Respect for that. But ultimately,
I think it is of lesser value even if it has wide appeal.
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woelen
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I agree.
The problem is that true (and more abstract and academic) science does not sell as well as commercialized science.
A video about e.g. a specific redx-reaction, complete with reaction equations and explanations of underlying principles can be very well made, but
still, the big public does not like it that much. Too abstract, too many hard to understand words, too many difficult words, and so on.
The population of members of sciencemadness is far from the average person, watching videos on Youtube. Taking that into account, I still have big
respect for what NileRed achieved, even with his somewhat less interesting videos for sciencemadness-people. Actually, I think that there also are
quite a few people on sciencemadness, who also like the somewhat less hard science videos.
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Precipitates
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He has swayed away from home science to more specialist techniques and procedures, on more popular topics. The more successful he becomes, the less he
will want to tell people how to make dangerous chemicals (it probably doesn't sell well to YouTube and his sponsors), and indeed now he condemns some
of his earlier experiments. I guess it's easy to say how bad making bromine in your garage is if you have a fancy lab to do it in. Not jealous at all!
So, with that in mind, whilst I enjoy watching his latest videos from time to time, his earlier works are much more relevant to me. Sure, I could find
the information elsewhere, but the visual aspect is so useful, and even his older videos are detailed and edited well.
I'm very happy for him that he has achieved such success, which, along with such articles, hopefully spins a more positive and lighter tone on
chemistry in general.
And I'm sure many home chemists would aspire to have such success.
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pantone159
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Here is a 'gift' link from the NY Times that is supposed to get past any paywall:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/17/world/canada/nilered-yout...
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Keras
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Thanks for the link.
I tend to agree with everyone. As soon as he began to make 'shorts' in order to earn more money, his channel's relevance fell down considerably to me.
Fortunately, both NurdRage and recently Apoptosis still carry the torch.
Worse, I think that his recent videos are completely anti-didactical. There is an underlying message in ‘garage’ videos that interesting science
doesn’t need a lot of means. With maybe $200 worth of glassware and reactants, you can begin doing nice things. See people who make tunnel-effect
microscopes at home. NileRed's last videos, on the contrary, tend to spread the message that in order to have fun you need super expensive
multi-thousand dollars professional equipment which is forever out of reach of the common person.
But finally what I hate most in this article is (apparently his) final line: ‘Science is only interesting because it’s useful,’ Mr. Braun said.
‘If it’s not useful, it’s just a bunch of party tricks.’ This is completely antipodal to what I believe. Science is interesting because it
makes you aware how the world works, and because of what you discover. In Nile Red's vision, there would be no point in investigating black holes or
going bonkers to explore Mars or other planets, let alone particle accelerators, etc. I find it cool to synthesise a molecule just because it smells
nice or has a beautiful colour or, like Apoptosis, just watch crystals of potassium chlorate form, sparkle and fall to the bottom of a beaker. Nile
Red's vision has become totally capitalistic, which is why I dropped out of his Patreon supporters long ago.
[Edited on 22-8-2024 by Keras]
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woelen
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It depends on how Mr. Braun defines 'useful'. If this is meant to be interpreted as economically useful, then I fully agree with you. Science,
however, can also be 'useful' in other ways, just like art, music, stories, etc. It can be beautiful, awe inspiring, interesting, etc. To me, these
also are important measures of usefulness. And for me, doing home science is mainly driven by that kind of usefulness, This is true for my chemistry
things, but also for the mathematics I am doing more recently.
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Keras
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Quote: Originally posted by woelen  | It depends on how Mr. Braun defines 'useful'. If this is meant to be interpreted as economically useful, then I fully agree with you. Science,
however, can also be 'useful' in other ways, just like art, music, stories, etc. It can be beautiful, awe inspiring, interesting, etc. To me, these
also are important measures of usefulness. And for me, doing home science is mainly driven by that kind of usefulness, This is true for my chemistry
things, but also for the mathematics I am doing more recently.
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You’re right. I took the opposition between 'useful' and 'bunch of tricks' as an indication that he meant 'useful' in a rather narrow way, and
discarded all the aesthetically appealing aspects as junk.
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Precipitates
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| Quote: Originally posted by Keras |
Science is only interesting because it’s useful,’ Mr. Braun said. ‘If it’s not useful, it’s just a bunch of party tricks.’
[Edited on 22-8-2024 by Keras] |
To me his latest videos seem very much like party tricks e.g.,. turning styrofoam into candy, paint thinner into cherry soda.
I'm not sure I would want to go to one of his parties! 
But, I guess as long as he explains the science, it's not just party tricks.
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Keras
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| Quote: Originally posted by Precipitates | | Quote: Originally posted by Keras |
Science is only interesting because it’s useful,’ Mr. Braun said. ‘If it’s not useful, it’s just a bunch of party tricks.’
[Edited on 22-8-2024 by Keras] |
To me his latest videos seem very much like party tricks e.g.,. turning styrofoam into candy, paint thinner into cherry soda.
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Yeah, I agree with that. He has been steadily turning to the spectacular and the clic-baity to attract more subscribers…
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j_sum1
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I don't think this is a good moment to pile on NileRed.
I think there is general consensus about his work and his marketing strategy. What he is doing seems to be the thing he wants to do and is working
very well for him. And there are some ambitious projects underneath all the fluff.
What I do think is awesome is a decent, detailed article from a prominent media outfit supporting amateur chemistry. That does not happen often.
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teodor
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Amateur chemistry and success from the public's point of view. A complex topic with a bit of controversy.
But somebody have to do a job of making society not afraid of amateur chemistry.
The problem when other creators of very good youtube videos about chemistry try to compete with such sort of production. Because they see it is
succesfull. But from consumer's point of view it is more interesting to see videos from people showing their own interests, not from people trying to
guess what is more intrresting for the public.
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Keras
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| Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1 |
What I do think is awesome is a decent, detailed article from a prominent media outfit supporting amateur chemistry. That does not happen often.
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The problem is that I don’t really see any reference to amateur chemistry in the article, especially since it is mentioned that NileRed is now a
family company churning up millions of dollars.
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j_sum1
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Well, it did mention he started in his Dad's garage, scavenging glassware from a college skip.
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Keras
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Maybe, but he never acknowledges the other people in the community, even those like Chemplayer or NurdRage he took inspiration from.
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Texium
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I agree with Keras to the extent that the article makes it sound like his transformation from playing in the garage to having a hugely successful
channel occurred in a vacuum. I’m not going to get too down about it, but it would have been nice for Sciencemadness and other YouTubers to get a
little shoutout. He was even in the Sciencemadness Skype Group for a while, and we would discuss his projects and share ideas. While his personal
ambition and talent for excellent camerawork were the major factors of his success, it does feel a little disingenuous to ignore the support of our
community.
Like j_sum though, I am mainly happy that he is successful and getting good press. Though his new videos don’t appeal to me, it is nice to see that
a science channel can be so popular with the general public. Better watching NileRed than absolutely valueless reality TV. Perhaps for some who have
never really thought about chemistry, it can be a gateway to content with more intellectual value as their curiosity takes hold.
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metalresearcher
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I was indeed less interested in his videos since his shorts, but the purple gold video is very interesting, but that is because I am interested in
metallurgy and do metalcasting.
Yes, commercial science, but guys like Sir Humphrey Davy, Henri Moissan or Priestley also started as a kind of hobby chemists but did a lot for
science and technology.
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bnull
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It is good to see amateur science being presented in a light other than the "dangers and threats of cookery/bomb-making" that the media usually does
and loves. The "Mr. Braun" routine, that was quite annoying.
The last time I watched one of his videos was the one on thioacetone. I lost interest in all that came afterwards (especially the shorts; I wish there
was a way to disable that feature in the app). I suppose I'm still subscribed.
Quod scripsi, scripsi.
B. N. Ull
P.S.: Did you know that we have a Library?
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Sir_Gawain
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Nigel talks about being on Sciencemadness in this clip. He’s also mentioned it in older videos.
“Alchemy is trying to turn things yellow; chemistry is trying to avoid things turning yellow.” -Tom deP.
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Texium
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Thread Split
17-11-2024 at 10:15 |
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